Forbidden World

Blu-ray

DVD

For most of us fans of Sci-fi and fantasy our first exposure to the genre was
with ‘B’ flicks shown in some Saturday afternoon matinee. While these movies
will never find themselves on a ‘Best of’ list or hear the phrase ‘the winner
is’ preceding the name of the film but they do work as pure entertainment. One
man has distinguished himself as the king of the ‘B’ flick; Roger Corman. For
several decades he has produced or directed some of the best known flick on the
‘B’ list’. Now, before you dismiss these films as just cheaply made bad movies
made by hacks consider one important fact. Corman’ protégés reads like a list of
Academy Award winners including Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorses and Ron
Howard. Each of these gifted men were ‘graduates’ of what is frequently referred
to as the Roger Corman film school. With alumni like this you might get to say
the films were cheap and possibly bad but certainly not the result of hacks.
This proves that even these movies that are the target if ridicule can be the
training ground for some of the giants in the industry. While not every director
of a film produced by Corman makes it big but the fundamentals remain the same.
Corman teaches aspiring film makers the importance of pleasing the audience
while remaining on budget. Corman had an incredible understanding of the dual
nature of the film industry; keeping the customer happy while bringing a profit
to the investor. Shout Factory is paying some well deserved attention to this
genius of popular cinema with Blu-ray editions of some of the films he directed
or produced. One of the initial installments is a little flick called ‘Forbidden
World’. Although released in 1982 it was highly reminiscent of some of those
grind house flicks we loved as kids. There is that same kind of carefree fun
pervading the movie that comes with this particular format.

As fans of Mr. Corman will readily point out part of his approach to
filmmaking is ‘when in doubt blow something up or have a nubile young woman
remove some clothing. ‘Forbidden World’ is not an exception with quite a number
of both ‘plot devices’ evident here. Writing the script that encompasses this
exploration of sex and violence was Tim Curnen and based on a story from Jim
Wynorski. There is not much on the resume of Curnen besides this but Wynorski
has extensive experience in several facets of creating ‘B’ flicks that has
included many that are regularly shown during the overnight hours on Cinemax
boasting titles like ‘Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade’ to ‘The Hills Have
Thighs’. Okay, he doesn’t specialize in anything close to ‘Masterpiece Theater’.
Bringing it all together is the direction by Allan Holzman who also has
experience in this tier of cinema. Right up front it should be noted that you
should not think too hard while viewing this movie. In fact just disengage the
higher reasoning portion of your brain in order to avoid any consideration of
technical or literary merit. Just take it for what it is, for how it was
intended to be considered; light, enjoyable entertainment. There is a reason
this was kept out of American release for so long but if you are able to embrace
the schlock you just might find a guilty pleasure

On the distant desert plant, Xarbia, there is a serious shortage in food. I
guess this happens when you live on pile of sand although it never seemed to
affect the folks on Dune. A research team has discovered a potential solution to
curb the galactic hunger problem. Through the use of synthetic DNA they created
Subject 20 whose byproduct Proto-20 can be used as a food source. Unfortunately
there is a corollary to the axiomatic ‘Do not awaken the ancient evil’ that is
‘do not genetically engineer a life form with a larger hunger than your own. No
sooner than Proto-20 oozes out of its cocoon that it chows down on the nearby
research staff. The initial problem is the synthetic DNA mutated change the meal
into the diner. Mike Colby (Jesse Vint), trouble-shooter at large and his trusty
robotic sidekick SAM-104 (Don Olivera) begin the investigation. Amidst the
carnage Mike manages to find a young with suitable lack of modesty, Tracy (Dawn
Dunlap) helping to fill the exploitation flick nudity quotient. Mike doesn’t
seem to adept at anything other than carnal endeavors but the one remaining
uneaten scientist, Dr. Cal Timburgen Fox Harris) devises a plan to kill the even
more horribly mutated creature involving feeding the beastie his own cancer
ridden liver. If it sounds like there are more than a few plot holes present you
would be correct. That is one of the purposes of the naked young woman. Since
the target audience here is guys it is a safe bet that exposed breasts will
distract them from any form of analytical thought. In Blu-ray the effects come
across cheesier than ever. This movie was intended to be shown in some old grin
house theater so high definition will provide a lot more detail than you ever
imagined. The film is fun in a boy’s night out sort of way and the presentation
will open it up to a use of Blu-ray you might not have considered; making a ‘B’
flick look and sound better than the filmmaker imagined.